Electoral Act Met The Yearnings Of Nigerians, Not A Few Noisemakers – Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stated that the National Assembly is happy and satisfied with the final output on the newly signed Electoral Act.

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Speaking to State House correspondents on Wednesday after President Bola Tinubu signed the bill into law, Akpabio said the lawmakers painstakingly worked on the new law.

According to him, the Senators ensured the law met the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians and refused to bow to pressure from some political stakeholders he described as noise makers.

The Senate President said the lawmakers took into consideration the peculiarities of the Nigerian environment to arrive at a conclusion on the law.

In his words, Akpabio declared that the National Assembly was happy and satisfied that it had been able to interpret the intentions and yearnings of the majority of Nigerians, “not those who are politically motivated, not a few people who make noise. Noise is different from lawmaking.”

He gave assurances that the new law would guarantee greater transparency, prosperity, and fairness in future elections, stressing that every vote cast by Nigerians would now truly count.

According to him, one of the major provisions of the amended Act is the formal recognition of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System result viewer, popularly known as the IReV, as a legitimate and verifiable record of polling unit results.

He explained that election results transmitted electronically, even in areas with poor network coverage, would eventually reflect on the IReV portal once connectivity is restored. This, he said, would make it possible for Nigerians to detect any tampering or alteration of results as they move from polling units to collation centres.

In his explanation, Akpabio noted that for the first time since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, electronic transmission of results has been formally recognised in law.

He added that another highlight in the new law is the provision that empowers political party members to vote directly for candidates of their choice during primaries, rather than leaving such decisions to a handful of delegates.

He also added that the law now requires a fresh election to be conducted where a leading candidate is disqualified by a court, preventing a scenario in which a candidate with a significantly lower number of votes is declared the winner by default.